From an outsider’s perspective, finding things you want or need on Google is a relatively simple task: type your information in the search engine, press enter, and up pops a seemingly endless list of links to websites relevant to your query.  Being found on Google in Lafayette, LA is a different story however, and requires a working knowledge of Google’s algorithms and how to make your website appear for relevant potential customers and clients.  The internet’s catalog of information is practically infinite, with approximately 380 new websites popping up every 60 seconds.  In 2020, there are nearly 1.74 billion websites worldwide.  Without search engine algorithms to sort through the relevant content and bring it up for us, we would be searching endlessly for the proverbial needle in the haystack every time we wanted to find something on the internet. 

Google uses a series of algorithms to sort through websites and find those relevant to your search.  These algorithms sort websites based on your geographical location, your search query, relevance of pages, etc.  Each item is weighed differently. This is based on the specific words in your search and the type of query. Google fine-tunes its algorithms regularly, so staying current on the specifics is essential.  For instance, secure websites are now given more weight than insecure websites and are thus more likely to appear at the top of the rankings.  Secure websites are safe websites. You can tell if a website is secure by the addition of “s” in the beginning of a website address.  For example, it will begin with https:// instead of http://.  Web designers in Lafayette, LA utilize SEO to exploit these algorithms to a website’s advantage.  The idea behind SEO is to make it easier to be found on Google.  With regular blog updates focusing on a set list of keywords to keep content fresh, frequent use of keywords throughout the website, and geographical tags with keyword phrases, a website can go from being poorly ranked to being on page 1 of the Google search engine in no time.